Name of the Week: Timothy

 

Origin:

Timothy is the Anglicised form of the Greek name Timotheos (Τιμόθεος), made up of the words timé (τιμή) "to value, accord honor, pay respect" and theos (θεός) "(a)God, godly." The name became established thanks to Saint Timothy (d.c. 97), a resident of Lystra, whose father was a Greek and mother a Jew. He was a trusted friend and companion of Saint Paul to whom two epistles (letters) of the New Testament are written.  Timothy is also the common name of the perennial grass plant Phleum pratense, also known as herd's grass or meadow cat's-tail. It is thought to have got its name from American farmer Timothy Hanson who widely promoted the plant as a source of hay in the 18th century.

Usage:

Timotheos was not uncommon in Ancient Greece. Data from the LGPN shows it was in moderate use, and was borne by a noted musician and poet in the court of Alexander the Great. It continued use in to the Christianised Byzantine Empire, when Greek was the official language, and there were also five more saints bearing the name Timotheus/Timotheos, martyred in the 3rd and 4th century.  In Britain, the name was rare until after the Protestant Reformation. It was first used in the 16th century, rarely at first, but then with increasing frequency. In the name frequency tables from 1538-1700 by Smith-Bannister, Timothy doesn't rank at all in the top 50 for the first century. It debuts at #48 in 1640-9, after which it moves to #29 (1650-9), #33 (1660-9), #48 (1670-9), #35 (1680-9), #34 (1690-9).  Around the same time, the feminine form Timothea also came into use, particularly for girls whose fathers were named Timothy. This may also explain the occasional instances of "Timothy" used for girls. It is more likely that "Timothy" in these cases was being used as a vernacular form for Timothea (as with Philip /Philippa, Julian/Juliana and Christian/Christian) than that they were "gender-bending."  The name continued to be a top 50 staple for the following two centuries. Leslie Dunkling's ranks for England and Wales puts it at #45 in 1700 and #37 in 1800. By the end of the 19th century, as with many other biblical names, Timothy began to decline, leaving the top 100 by 1890: click to enlarge 1860: #68 1870: #77 1880: #99  1890: #136    1900: #152   It stayed out of favour until the mid-20th century, reaching #77 in 1944 and peaking at #24 twenty years later in 1964. After that time it began to decline, leaving the top 100 after 1999.  Since 2004, the name has plateaued between #200-#300.  In 2014, Timothy ranked #274 (178 births) in England and Wales, #680 (3 births) in Scotland and #281 (6 births) in Northern Ireland.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Saint Timothy (d.c. 97), early Christian evangelist and the first first-century Christian bishop of Ephesus. * Pope Timothy II of Alexandria (d. 477), Patriarch of Alexandria. * Timothy I (d. 523), Patriarch of Constantinople. Contemporary: * Timothy West (b. 1934), British actor.  * Timothy Dalton (b.1944), British actor.  * Timothy "Tim" Curry (b.1946), British actor.  * Tim Allen (b. 1953), American actor. * Sir Timothy Berners-Lee (b. 1955), British computer scientist and inventor of the World Wide Web. * Timothy Spall (b. 1957), British actor. * Tim McGraw (b. 1967), American country singer. * Timothy Olyphant (b. 1968), American actor. * Timothy Omundson (b. 1969), American actor. Literature and Other Media: * Timothy Cratchit "Tiny Tim", a character from Charles Dickens' novel A Christmas Carol (1843). * Tim Drake, the third character to go by the name of "Robin" in the DC Universe comics. Other: * Timothy-grass, a type of a grass.

Variants:

Timothée, Timothé (French), Timotheus (German, Dutch), Timoteo (Italian, Spanish), Timoteo (Portuguese),  Timofei, Timofey (Russian), Timotej (Slavic), Tymoteusz (Polish)

Pronunciation:

TIM-ə-thee [key]

Possible diminutives:

Tim, Timmy, Timo, Theo, Tom

Sibling Names:

Rachael      Phoebe      Caroline      Lydia      Teresa      Joanna  Jonathan     Stephen     Christopher     Anthony     David     Elliott

Name Lists:

Popular Biblical   Gorgeously Georgian  Victorian Darlings  Bronte Names   Disney Names

 

If you like Timothy you may also like:    Simon, Tobias, Thaddeus, Gideon, Philip, Moses, Robin, Hamish, Laurence, Josiah

 

Thanks to Dawn for requesting this post.